Ancient Diocese of Couserans

The former French Catholic diocese of Couserans existed perhaps from the fifth century to the French Revolution in the late eighteenth century. It covered the former province of Couserans, in south-west France. Its episcopal seat was in Saint-Lizier, a small town to the west of Foix.^[1] It was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Auch.

Saint-Lizier Cathedral

History

 

Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède

Couserans was the fifth of the Novempopulaniae civitates.^[2] In the 580's peace and a division of territories was arranged between the Merovingian kings Guntram (561–592) and Childebert II (575–595), in which the territory of Couserans was assigned to Childebert.^[3] According to Gregory of Tours,^[4] the first bishop was Valerius, before the sixth century. Bishop Glycerius was present at the Council of Agde in 506.^[5] According to Louis Duchesne, he should be identified with Lycerius whom the Gallia Christiana places later in the list of bishops. Lycerius was patron saint of St-Lizier, the town in which the bishops of Couserans had their official residence.

The historian Pierre de Marca (1643–52), a native of Béarn and President of the Parliament of Navarre, was subsequently Bishop of Toulouse and Archbishop of Paris.^[6]

Up until the administration of Bishop Bernard de Marmiesse (1654–1680), the town of Saint-Lezier had two co-cathedrals, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède in the upper town next to the Episcopal Palace, and the Cathedral of St.-Lizier farther down to the south. Each co-cathedral was served by its own Chapter, each Chapter having a Precentor, a Sacristan, an Operarius, six Canons, ten Prebendarii and a priest called the Vicar Perpetuus. Over both Chapters stood the Archdeacon and the Aumonier. Bishop de Marmiesse united the two chapters and based them in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède; it was composed of the Archdeacon, two Precentors, two Sacristans, two Operarii, the Aumonier, twelve Canons, and two Vicarii perpetui; there were twenty-four prebends.^[7] In 1752 there was one dignity and twelve Canons.^[8]

Bishops

to 1200

• c. 451: Valerius^[9]
• 506-c. 548: Glycerius
• 549-551: Theodorus^[10]
• c. 614: Johannes I^[11]
• Saint Quintianus
• † ca. 663: Saint Licerius
• c. 663 or 664: Sesemundus^[12]
• Maurolenus
• c. 788-c. 791: Francolinus
• c. 879: Wainardus^[13]
• c. 887: Rogerius or Roger I.^[14]
• 973-978: Bernardus or Bernard I.
• c. 1019: Atto
• c. 1025: Berengarius or Béranger I.
• c. 1035: Bernard II. Raymond
• 1068-1078: Pelet
• 1078-1085: Vacant
• 1085-1095: William I. or Guilielmus
• 1117-1120: Jordanes I.
• 1120-1155: Petrus or Pierre I.
• 1165-1177: Rogerius or Roger II.
• c. 1177: Augustinus
• Stephanus (?)
• c. 1180: Auger I. (or Augerius I.)
• 1190-1191: Arnoldus or Arnaldus I.
• 1195-1198: Laurentius

1200 to 1400

• 1208-1211: Navarrus d'Acqs
• 1213: Sance or Sanchius
• c. 1226: Raymond I. (or Raymundus I.)
• c. 1229: Cerebrun
• 1246–4 October 1270: Nikolaus
• c. 1273: Petrus or Pierre II.
• ?-16. October 1275: Raymond II. de Sobole or de Saboulies
• 1277-c. 1279: Raymond III. de Rostoil
• 1279–1 June 1303: Auger II. (or Augustin) de Montfaucon
• 1303 - 31 May 1309: Bernard III. de Montaigu
• 4 July 1309 - 31 May 1329: Arnaldus II. Fredeti^[15]
• 27 June 1329 - 17 July 1336: Raymond IV. de Montaigu^[16]
• 17 July 1336 - c. 1337: Antonius d'Aspel
• c. 1337-1342: Pierre III. de Palude
• Durandus
• 1354–1 December 1358: Canardus
• c. 1358-1360 or 1361: Jean II. de Rochechouart
• c. 1361–17 October 1362: Béranger II.
• 10 December 1362 - 1368: Ponce de Villemur
• 19 August 1371 - 18 May 1384: Amelius de Lautrec^[17]
• [1381-1384: Arnaldus III.]^[18]
• 18 May 1384 - 1389: Pierre IV Aymery (Avignon Obedience)^[19]
• 27 May 1390 – 17 October 1390: Robert du Bosc^[20]
• 17 October 1390 – 18 September 1405: Gérald or Gérard I de Brolio (de Breuil)^[21]

1400 to 1800

• 1405 - 19 Juli 1412: Sicard (or Aicard) de Burguiroles^[22]
• 23 September 1412 – (17. January): Guillaume III. Beau-Maître^[23]
• 1417-1423?: Guillaume IV. de Nalajo
• 22 December 1423 – 18 May 1425: Arnaldus^[24]
• 1425-1428: Jean III^[25]
• 1428-1432: Gérard II. Faidit^[26]
• before 23 March 1439 - 1440: André^[27]
• 18 April 1440 - 1443: Jordanes II. d'Aure^[28]
• 1443-c. 1444: Raymond VI. de Tullio
• 1444-1460: Tristan
• 5 November 1460 - 10 March 1475: Guiscard d'Aubusson^[29]
• 1480-1515: Jean IV. d'Aule
• 25 June 1515 - 24 April 1523: Charles de Grammont^[30]
• 28 April 1523 - 19 September 1524: Gabriel I. de Grammont^[31]
• 1524-1548: Ménald de Martory^[32]
• 1548-1574: Hector d'Ossun
• 1581-1584: François Bonard
• 1593-1612: Jérôme de Langue (de Lingua)^[33]
• 1614–14. November 1621: Octave de Bellegarde^[34]
• 7 June 1623 - October 1642: Bruno Ruade, O.Cart.^[35]
• 1642-1654: Pierre de Marca^[36]
• 28 May 1654 - 22 January 1680: Bernard IV. de Marmiesse^[37]
• 1680 - 24 December 1707: Gabriel II. de Saint-Estève^[38]
• 24 June 1708 - October 1725: Isaac-Jacob de Verthamont^[39]
• 12 January 1727 - 1752: Jean-François de Machéco de Prémeaux^[40]
• 22 October 1752 - 28 September 1779: Joseph de Saint-André-Marnays de Vercel^[41]
• 1780 - 1795: Dominique de Lastic^[42]

See also

• Catholic Church in France
• List of Catholic dioceses in France

References

1. In 1752 it was credited with a population of around 2,000. Ritzler, VI, p. 179, note 1.
2. Gallia christiana I, p. 1123-1124. The people are first mentioned in the elder Pliny's Historia naturalis Book IV. 19 as the Consorani. Adriaan H. B. Breukelaar (1994). Historiography and episcopal authority in sixth-century Gaul: the histories of Gregory of Tours interpreted in their historical context. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 209–210. ISBN 978-3-525-55165-3.
3. Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum Book IX, chapter 20.
4. Gregory of Tours, Liber de gloria confessorum, 84.
5. Jacques Sirmond (1789). Conciliorum Galliae tam editorum quam ineditorum collectio, temporum ordine digesta, ab anno Christi 177 ad ann. 1563 (in Latin and French). Vol. Tomus primus. Paris: P. Didot. p. 797.
6. Pierre de Marca (1763). Stephanus Baluzius (ed.). Illustrissimi viri Petri de Marca, Archiepiscopi Parisiensis Dissertationum de concordia sacerdotii et Imperii (in Latin). Paris: Apud Haeredes Balleonios. pp. xiv–xxxvi. Claude-François Lambert (1751). Histoire littéraire du regne de Louis XIV (in French). Vol. Tome premier. Paris: Prault fils. pp. 28–34. Catholic Encyclopedia: Pamiers
7. Gallia christiana I, pp. 1123-1124.
8. Ritzler, VI, p. 179 note 1.
9. Valerius is known only through the report by Gregory of Tours of the discovery of his tomb: Gallia christiana I, pp. 1123-1125. He is not mentioned in the martyrologies, and there is no hagiography. Duchesne hints that there may have been a confusion due to a Roman tombstone of someone belonging to the Gens Valeria. Duchesne, p. 99 no. 1.
10. Theodorus was represented at the Council of Orléans in 549 by the Archdeacon Eleutherius, and was present at the Council of Eauze in 551. He was the discoverer of the tomb of Saint Valerius. Duchesne, p. 99, no. 3. Friedrich Maassen (1893). Concilia aevi Merovingici (in Latin). Hannover: Hahn. pp. 112 and 115.
11. Bishop Johannes was present at the Council of Paris in 614. Maassen, p. 192. Duchesne, p. 99, no. 4.
12. Bishop Sesemundus was present at the Council of Bordeaux in the mid-670s. Maassen, p. 260. Duchesne, p. 99, no. 5.
13. Wainard was the recipient of a letter of Pope John VIII, dated 13 June 879, on illicit marriages and clerical obedience to authority. J. Jaffé, Regesta pontificum Romanorum Tomus I editio altera (Leipzig: Veit 1885), p. 410, no. 3263. Duchesne, p. 99 no. 7.
14. Rogerius was present in 887 at the translation of relics. Gallia christiana I, p. 1127.
15. Eubel, I, p. 203.
16. Raymond de Montaigu was transferred to Clermont. He died on 1 April 1340. Eubel, I, pp. 192, 203.
17. Aemilius de Lautrec was a Doctor of Canon Law, and had been Chancellor of the Church of Toulouse. He was transferred to the diocese of Comminges on 18 May 1384. He was created a cardinal by Pope Clement VII on 12 July 1385. Eubel, I, p. 28 no. 23; p. 207; and p. 203.
18. Arnaldus' existence depends on the testimony of the brothers Saint-Marthe: Gallia christiana I, p. 1136. His name is omitted by Eubel, I, p. 203, from the list of bishops of Couserans. Indeed there is no space for him in the attested chronology, unless he is considered an appointee of Urban VI (Roman Obedience), whose power did not extend to France.
19. Bishop Pierre was transferred to the diocese of Castres in 1384, but the transfer never took place. He was transferred by Clement VII to Bourges on 17 October 1390. Eubel, I, pp. 139; 203, with n. 5.
20. Bishop Robert had been Bishop of Alet (1386-1390), and was transferred to the diocese of Mende on 17 October 1390. Eubel, I, pp. 203, 237, 342.
21. Geraldus was a Doctor of Canon Law and had been Bishop of Apt (1383–1390). He was transferred to the diocese of Uzès on 18 September 1405. Eubel, I, p. 96, 203 with note 6, 511. On his alleged successors Raymond and Guillaume Reol, who are passed over by Eubel (with comment in note 6), see: Gallia christiana I, p. 1137, where doubts are also raised.
22. Sicard, a doctor in Canon Law and Canon of Narbonne, was a Cleric of the Apostolic Camera. He was granted his bulls on 20 November 1405 by Pope Benedict XIII. He sent legates to participate in the Council of Pisa, which opened in May 1409. He died on 19 July 1412. Gallia christiana I, p. 1137. Eubel, I, pp. 203-204.
23. Guillaume had been Archdeacon of Vallisjuria in the diocese of Coutances. He was appointed by John XXIII. Gallia christiana I, p. 1137. Eubel, I, p. 204.
24. Bishop Arnaud was transferred to the diocese of Lescar on 18 May 1425, at the same time as Jean III was transferred from the diocese of Lecscar to Couserans. Eubel, I, pp. 204, 295.
25. C. Douais, "Documents pontificaux sur l'eveche de Couserans, 1425-1619," Revue de Gascogne: Bulletin Bimestrial de la Société Historique de Gascogne (in French). Auch. 1888. pp. 349–357, at 350–353.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
26. Faidit was a Doctor of Civil and Canon Law, and had been a Canon of the Cathedral of Toulouse and Cantor of the Cathedral of Lavaur. He was a papal Referendary, when Pope Martin V rejected the choice of the Chapter of Montaubon, and appointed Gérard Bishop of Montaubon on 5 June 1424. His own successor at Montaubon was approved on 5 June 1424. Eubel, I, p. 347.
27. Andre participated in the 25th session of the Council of Florence on 23 March 1439. Gallia christiana I, p. 1138. Eubel, II, p. 134.
28. C. Douais, p. 353. Eubel, II, p. 134.
29. Guiscard d'Aubusson's brother was Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Guiscard had been promised a cardinalate, but it was never granted. Guiscard was transferred to the diocese of Cahors on 10 March 1475. Kenneth M. Setton (1978). The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The Fifteenth Century. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. pp. 392–393. ISBN 978-0-87169-127-9. Guillaume de La Croix (1879). Histoire des évêques de Cahors, tr. du lat. par L. Ayma (in French). Vol. Tome II. Cahors: Plantade. pp. 297–299. Eubel, II, pp. 123, 134.
30. Charles de Grammont was transferred to the diocese of Aire on 24 April 1523. Eubel, III, pp. 95 and 176, with notes 5 and 6.
31. Gabriel de Grammont was transferred to the diocese of Tarbes on 19 September 1524. Eubel, III, pp. 176 and 309.
32. Martory was a Doctor of Canon Law. He had been Dean of the Cathedral Chapter of Orleans when nominated Bishop of Tarbes (1514–1524) by King Francis I. He was transferred to Couserans on 19 September 1524. He died in 1548. Eubel, III, p. 176, p. 309 with n. 4.
33. Henri Louis Duclos (1887). Histoire des Ariégeois (Comté de Foix et Vicomté de Couserans) (in French). Vol. Tome 7. Paris: Perrin et cie. pp. 103–104.
34. Bellegarde was granted his bulls as Archbishop of Sens on 18 December 1623. Gauchat, IV, p. 313.
35. Ruade's baptismal name was Philibert; Bruno was his name in religion. On his appointment, see: Ph., Tamizey de Larroque (1874). "Deux lettres de Bruno Ruade, évêque de Conserans". Revue de Gascogne. 15: 421–424. Ruade died in February 1645. Joseph Bergin (1996). The Making of the French Episcopate, 1589-1661. Yale University Press. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0-300-06751-4. Gauchat, IV, p. 160.
36. De Marca had been one of the judges of the Comte de Cinq-Mars. He later was named archbishop of Toulouse (1654–1662) on 23 March 1654, and Archbishop of Paris (1662). Bergin, p. 85. Gauchat, IV, pp. 274 and 340. François Gaquère (1932). Pierre de Marca, 1594-1662: sa vie, ses œuvres, son gallicanisme (in French). P. Lethielleux.
37. A native of Toulouse, Marmiesse was a Doctor of Theology (Sorbonne). He was preconized by Pope Innocent X on 19 October 1654. Gauchat, IV, p. 161, with note 6.
38. Saint-Estève was a bachelor in theology (Paris). He was nominated bishop by King Louis XIV on 24 February 1680, and preconized (approved) by Pope Innocent XI on 15 July 1680. He died on 24 December 1707. Jean, p. 78. Ritzler, V, p. 169 with note 3.
39. Verthamont was born in the Chateau de Chalucet (Limoges), and was a doctor of theology. He had been Vicar-General of Pamiers. On 17 January 1708 he was nominated bishop of Couserans by King Louis XIV, and preconized (approved) by Pope Clement XI on 26 March 1708. Jean, p. 78. Ritzler, V, p. 169 with note 4.
40. Prémeaux was a native of Dijon. His elder brother was Bishop of Périgueux (1732–1771). Jean-François was Doctor of Theology (Besancon), and was Vicar General of Narbonne. He was nominated by King Louis XV on 29 March 1726, and preconized (approved) by Pope Benedict XIII on 9 December 1726; he was consecrated on 12 January 1727. Jean, p. 78-79. Ritzler, V, p. 169 with note 5. Ritzler, VI, p. 334 with note 2.
41. Jean, p. 79. Ritzler, VI, p. 179 with note 2.
42. Dominique de Lastic was born at Saint-Chatély in the diocese of Mende, and obtained a Licenciate in theology from the University of Paris. He was the nephew of Antoine de Lastic Bishop of Comminges (1740–1763). For twelve years he served as a Vicar General of Rouen. He was nominated bishop of Couserans on 3 October 1779 by King Louis XVI, and approved (preconized) by Pope Pius VI on 13 December 1779. He died in exile in Münster on 3 March 1795. Jean, p. 79. Ritzler, VI, p. 179 with note 3; 181.

Bibliography

Reference works

• Gams, Pius Bonifatius (1873). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae: quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo. Ratisbon: Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. pp. 540–541. (Use with caution; obsolete)
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1913). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 1 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) pp. 103–104.
• Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. (in Latin) p. 134.
• Gulik, Guilelmus (1923). Eubel, Conradus (ed.). Hierarchia catholica, Tomus 3 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 176.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 160.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi V (1667-1730). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 169.
• Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1958). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI (1730-1799). Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. Retrieved 2016-07-06. p. 179.
• Sainte-Marthe, Denis de (1715). Gallia Christiana, In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa; Qua Series Et Historia Archiepiscoporum, Episcoporum, Et Abbatum Franciae Vicinarumque Ditionum ab origine Ecclesiarum ad nostra tempora deducitur, & probatur ex authenticis Instrumentis ad calcem appositis: Tomus Primus (in Latin). Vol. Tomus primus. Paris: Johannes-Baptista Coignard. pp. 1123–1187, Instrumenta, 185–190.

Studies

• Devic, Claude; Vaissete, J. (1872). Histoire générale de Languedoc: avec des notes et les pièces justificatives (in French). Vol. Tome IV. Toulouse: Privat. pp. 378–383.
• Duchesne, Louis (1910). Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule: II. L'Aquitaine et les Lyonnaises. Paris: Fontemoing. pp. 99–100.
• Du Tems, Hugues (1774). Le clergé de France, ou tableau historique et chronologique des archevêques, évêques, abbés, abbesses et chefs des chapitres principaux du royaume, depuis la fondation des églises jusqu'à nos jours (in French). Vol. Tome premier. Paris: Delalain. pp. 482–492.
• Jean, Armand (1891). Les évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801 (in French). Paris: A. Picard. pp. 78–79.

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